Petrol dealers defer nationwide strike for two days

Petrol dealers defer nationwide strike for two days, till Monday.

The development comes on Friday after The Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association (PPDA) members met with State Minister for Petroleum Musadik Malik in Karachi.

Petroleum dealers had announced a nationwide strike initially planned to begin tomorrow 22 July for an indefinite period of time, demanding their profit margin to be more than doubled to five percent from the current level of 2.4pc.

State Minister for Petroleum Musadik Malik arrived in Karachi earlier in the day in a bid to convince the PPDA to call off the nationwide strike.

Petroleum dealers following the meeting said that an agreement had been reached for an upward revision of their profit margin.

In a statement, the PPDA said they might hold another round of negotiations with the government after two days.

A day earlier, PPDA announced shutting down fuel pumps across the country from July 22, demanding an increase in profit margins amid an inflation crisis.

“We will shut down all petrol pumps across Pakistan on July 22, 6 pm,” said the association, adding further that it has more than 10,000 members.